Beware of Shaking Hands with the Car Salesman

Traditionally shaking hands with the car salesman is a greeting, a deal closer and a thank you, but today things are changing a little. The media has created whole new group of Germaphobes (people that fear germs) than we have never seen in the past. These people have issues with shaking hands, opening doors and holding handrails in public places. However these people buy cars so think about it the next time a prospective car buyer seems hesitant to shake your hand.

Shaking Hands with the Car Salesman and Closing the Sale

I have always considered shaking hands with the car salesman a great closing technique. By extending your hand to the customer after repeating the terms and conditions of the sale usually closed the sale or brought their objections to the surface. Of course this also requires you to shut up and wait for them to say the first word no matter how long it took.

The simple gesture of putting your hand out for them to shake usually prompted them to do something instead of avoiding the ultimate agreement to buy now. However you don’t want to move too fast. After several trial closes and sufficient negotiation (although sometimes lengthy) putting your hand out so they can shake hands with the car salesman means its time to make the deal.

A Handshake With the Car Salesman Was a Sale

I’m from the Old School and shaking hands with the car salesman was just the natural way to start the car buying process. It was a simple business handshake from a professional salesman and the customer. In the past if a customer was reluctant to shake my hand I felt insulted and challenged at the same time. I never even thought about them having a fear of germs. Today things are changing and there are more and more people that avoid touching things in public. Take a look around the dealership and many other public places and watch the way people open doors in public places and whether or not they hold the handrail on stairs.

It’s fairly common today to see people opening doors with their elbows, their sleeves and the backs of their hands. You will also see parents teaching their kids to avoid the handrails at times. These are the kind of people that you are greeting and selling cars to at your dealership on a regular basis. Therefore you need to change the way you think about people that are less than enthusiastic about shaking hands with the car salesman. More often than not they are probably worried about germs rather than being difficult. I am sure that we will see more and more of this type of behavior from customers in the future thanks to the media.

If you pay close attention to the behavior of your customers and you will be able to spot them by the way they open doors, test drive cars and sit at your desk. The simple car sales tip here is to be considerate of your customers and especially when they are one of those people that aren’t crazy about shaking hands with the car salesman or anybody else because they still need to buy cars.

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